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P. GERLI AND O. A. ROSS. APPARATUS FOR RECLAIMING SQLVENTS.

APPLICATION FILEQ MAY 4,1918.

Patented June 29, 192 0.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

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55 y operation, a preliminary description of the OFFICE.

PAUL GERLI ANDOSCAR A ROSS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y,

APPARATUS FOR 'RECLAIMING SOLVENTS.

specification of Letters Patent. Patented J e 29 192 Application filedMay 4,1918. Serial No. 282,505.

To all whom it may concern: a I

Be it known'that we, PAUL GERLI and OSCAR A. Boss, citizens of theUnited States of America, residing at New York city, 1n the county ofNew ork and State of New York, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Apparatus for Reclaiming Solvents, of which the followingis a specification.

The lnvention upon Wh1Ch 1S based our present application for LettersPatent, pertains to a system for recovering volatilesolvents employed incompounds used for treating fabrics, or similar materials.

Primarily, the object in view is to furnish a device whereby the solventof a compound for treatment purposes is entirely recovered by gasifyingsaid solvent, thereafter condensing it into a liquid whereby it canagain be employed as a solvent of materials for treatment purposes.

It is further the aim to provide'means whereby the solvent may begasified at a low temperature thereby avoiding destruction or changingof form of material due to excessive heat which ordinarily might berequired to drive off said solvent.

It is further the aim to provide means to. automatically control themovement of material to and through the treating apparatus employedincur-improved system. Also to automatically control the functioning ofthe various devices employed.

All the above and other. aims sought are attained by our preferred formof apparatus, 7 which for the purposes of specific illustra tion isshown in the accompanying drawlngs, 1n Wh1ch: I

F lgure 1, 1s a sectional view of the treatment chamber causinggasific'ation of a solvent and is taken on line A -'A of Fig. 2,

Fig. 2, is a one-half sectional view of the same device taken online BB,of F ig. 1.

Fig. 3, is an end elevation of the same device taken on line C'-C, of,Fig. 1,

Fig. 4., isa diagrammatic view of the arrangement of units employed inour im-* proved system, and,

F ig. 5, is a reduced size plan view illustrating the function ofcertain parts of the control apparatus;

None of the apparatus, or parts employed in our system, are, or needbeof any special of unusual construction, but for a more readyunderstanding of the-system and of its 2, are hinged parts and devicescontained therein may be apposite.

0 housin or 'shell 1, supported by leg l 7 doors 3 and 4. On itsunders1de is secured treatment vat5, containing.

' roller 6, mounted on shaft 7. On its inside .porting are securedbearing members 8, su gulde roller 9, and ringer rollers 1 and 11,roller 11 being adjustable and adapted to press against roller 10 bymeans of spring 12 controlled by screw 13 in bracket 14.

Drippings from roller 11 are returned to ver through link 29, pivoted as30, and

connected to controller arm 31, controls. the

speed of motor through the speed control box 32. y

Heating rolls 33, 34 and 35, are supported in ball bearings 36, securedin bearing supports 37, having stuffing boxes 38. Rolls 33, 34, and 35,are tubular having-small outlet tubes'39," secured to the ends thereof.Said tubes 39, enter steam header 40, through. stufiing boxes 41.

The level of treating compound in vat 5, is determined byfioat valve 42,controlling the opening of feed pipe 43. Vat 5, is also supplied withdrain pipe 44.

Snap switch 45, controlling suppl of energy to motor 20, iscontrolled byever comprising a long arm 46 and a short arm 50, mounted on shaft 47.Said lever has roller 48, normally held against material 28,

by spring 49 attached to the short arm 50 of the said lever.

Housing 1, has exhaust opening 54, to, which is secured flange 52,having ipe 53.

Control unit 61, is composed 0 upper housing 62, and lower housing 64,clamped between which is diaphragm 65, to which is attached rod 63,which is secured to said diaphragm by nut 66, and washer 67 The movementof said diaphragm is under control of spring 68, the tension of ,,whichis re ulated by adjusting screw 69.

ivoted to the outer end of rod 63, is lever 70, operating around pivot71, and to the outer end of said lever are pivoted links 72 and 73,connected to controlling levers 74 and 7 5, of controlunits 76 and 77for motors 78 and 79. Motor 78 drives vacuum pump 80, and motor 7 9,drives compressor 81. j

'Heat control unit 90, is composed of upper housing 91, and lowerhousing 92, having clamped therebetween diaphragm 93, to which issecured stud 94, by means of washer 95 and nut 96. Stud 94, operatingthrough housing 92, is connected to lever 97, of valve 98, and throughlink 99, controls supply pipe 102. Said stud 94 passes'through thecenter of adjusting screw 104, adapted to regulate the pressure ofspring 103, interposed between said adjusting screw and nut 96. Saidspring is adapted to cause movement of diaphragm 93, when the pressurein chamber l00, is carried above or below a predetermined amount.Chamber 100 is connected to steam header 40, through pi e 101.

'Meter 108-registers the quantity 0 gasified solvent drawn fromtreatment apparatus 83. Meter 109, through pinion 110,

driven by worm 111 on roller 34, registers the quantity of materialtreated in said apparatus.

The operation of our system and control of apparatus therefor isasfollows :Door 3 is opened and a roll as 17, of untreated material isrolled into place. as shown. Each end of material 28, on roll 17, has anapron, as 51 attached thereto, whereby the entire material on roll 17,may pass throu h the entireprocess without stopping. Te beginning apron51, is passed over roller 9, under roller 6, between rollers 10 and 11,-

and over and under rollers 33, 34, and 35, thereafter being secured toshaft 18.

Door 3, is 'now closed which hermetically seals housin 1, againstentrance of air thereinto. T ereafter the vacuum pump 80 is started, andsteam controlled by control unit 90, is fed to heater 40, passingthrough pipes 29, to heater rolls 33, 34, and 35. The temperature ofsaid rolls is automatically regulated by control unit 90, as follows Itis well known that the temperature of steam varies directly with itspressure, and, therefore, that any desired temperature within certainlimits may be obtained by maintaining a given pressure. Such apredetermined'pressure is maintained by heat control unit as follows:-After the desired temperature is known, and therefore the pressurerequired to obtain such temperature, adjusting screw 104, is regulatedwhereby, the pressure of spring 103, operating against diaphragm 93,permits the valve 98, through stud 94, link 99, and lever 97 to permitsufficient steam to enter header 40, whereby the ressure in said header,and therefore in ro lers 33, 34 and 35, is such that the propertemperature is obtained. To

rollers 33, 34 and 35, header 105 is supplied 7 with a drain pipe 106,controlled by valve 107, whereby steam may be allowed to slowly escape,in this manner assuring that such condensation is avoided. Thereafterswitch 55 is closed, and, as switch 45 is also closed, motor 20 rotates,and by shaft 21 and worm 22, causes gear 19 to rotate shaft 18, therebywinding up treated material 28 on said shaft.

It will be noted that due to the small diameter of the roll of material28 on shaft 18, lever 25, maintains lever 31, in the high speed positionfor motor 20. As the roll of treated material 28 increases in diameteron shaft 18, lever 25 is raised causing lever 31 to likewise risethrough link 29, in this manner causing said lever to move to a lower 7speed contact as 56. The cutting in of slower speed contacts as 56, dueto increase of diameter of the roll on-shaft 18, is pref- I erably soproportioned that movement of- After all the treated material has beenwound up on shaft 18, and the end apron as 51, leaves shaft 16, and asits opening 57,

passes upward toward heating roller 33,'

roller 48, leaves material 28, and enters said opening 57, therebythrough action of spring 49, causing lever46'to open switch 45 and stopmotor 20. At the same time lever'46,

through link .58, closes a. circuit throu h swltch 59 to bell 60,calling attention to t e ing the material as 28.

Due to the vacuum in housing 1, the temperature, required to gasifythesolvent, as

fact that the machine has completed treatfor example, gasolene, is muchreduced, in

this manner making it possible to treat such material as rubber, ormaterial to be treated with rubbercompounds in a rapid and economicalmanner.

As the solvent is gasified by the heat of rolls as 33, 34 and 35, andthe inherent heat 9 of the interior of housing 1, the gases pass upwardthrough pipe 53, to the vacuum pump 80 and thence to the gasometer, fromwhence it passes to the compressor 81, where 7 its pressure is raisedbefore entering the con- 'densers. After being liquefied by saidcondenser, in well known manner, it passes to r the storage tank whereit remains until required for dissolving additional'treating material tobe placed in vat 5.

The control of our improved system as illustrated by Fig. 4,'is asfollowsControl unit 61, is adjusted through screw 69, wherebywith apredetermined vacuum in chamber 82, diaphragm 65 is actuated whereby therod 63, through lever 70, and links 72, and

73, causes control levers'74 and 75, to vary the speed ofmotors 78 and79 whereby the speed of said motors will maintainthe speed of the vacuumpump 80, and compressor 81, such that said pump and compressor Willrespectively pump and compress the gasified vapors drawn from treatmentapparatus 83 through pipe 53. It is obvious that inasmaintained intreatment apparatus 83, but

also, the vacuum pump 80, and compressor unit 81, will operate at aspeed proportionate to the amount of solvent being gasified, in

this manner producing an economical and automatic operation 0 theentiresystem.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the,

art that various modifications may be made Without departing from thespirit of our invention, therefore, We do not Wish to limit ourselves tothe exact construction, as herein shown and described, but reserve toourselves the right to all modifications as properly fallwithin thesphere and scope of our invention.

What We claim is I V 1. In an apparatus for reclaiming solvents from acompound used for treating a material in the form of along strip, thecombination of a hermetically sealed chamber in which said material istreated, reels for carrying the material while under treatment, rollsfrom and onto which the material is wound, means for varying the speedof the winding reel as the diameter of the roll thereon varies so thatall parts of the material will be exposed for the same length of time,means for drawing off the solvent from the compound applied to thematerial, means for exhausting said gasified solvent from the chamberand means for liquefying the gasified solvent.

2. In an apparatus for reclaiming solvents from a compound used fortreating a material in the form of a long strip, the combination of ahermeticall sealed treating chamber, means therein or applying acompound to the material to be treated, means for controlling andregulating the supply of such compound, treated reels over which thematerial is carried, rolls from and onto which the material is wound,means for varying the speed of the winding reel in proportion to thediameter of the roll of material thereon so that all parts of thematerial will be subjected to treatment for the same length of time,means for drawing ofl from the chamber the vaporized solvent con-.

tained in the compound applied to the material, and means for liquefyingsaid vaporized solvent.

3. In a system for reclaiming solvents from a compound applied to atreated material, comprising, a hermetically sealed chamber,-means fortreating material in said chamber, means for gasif ing the solventcontained in the compoun applied'to said material, means for exhaustingsaid gasifi'ed solvent from said chamber, means for controlling saidexliausting means dependent for operation upon the pressure of fluid insaid chamber, and means for liquefying said gasified solvent. 8 I

4. In a .system for reclaiming solvents from a compound the combinationof a hermetically sealed chamber, means therein for gasifying thesolvent contained in said compound, means for exhausting said gasifiedsolvent from said chamber, and means for controlling said exhaustingmeans dependent for operation upon the exhausted pressure of saidchamber.

5. In a system for reclaiming solvents from a compound, comprising, ahermetically sealed chamber, means therein for gasifying the solventscontained in said, compound, means for exhausting said gasified solventfrom said chamber, means for controlling said exhausting means dependent'for' operation uponthe exhausted pressure in said chamber, and meansfor liquefying said gasified solvent.

6. n a system for reclaiming solvents from a compound applied to atreated material, comprising, a hermetically sealed chamber, meansthereinfor treating said material, means therein for moving saidmaterial for treatment, means for actuating said moving means, and meansfor automatically stopping said actuating means dependent for operationon a predetermined movement of said material.

7. In a system for reclaiming solvents from a compound applied to atreated material, vcomprising, a hermetically sealed chamber, meanstherein for treating said material, means therein for moving saidmaterial for treatment, means for actuating said moving means, means forautomatically stopping said actuating means dependent for operation on apredetermined movement of said material, and means forv indicatintheoperation of said stopping means.

8. In a system for reclaiming solvents from a compound applied to atreated material, comprising, a hermetically sealed chamber, meanstherein for treating said material, means for automatically controllingthe flow of treating compound to said .treating means, meansforgasifying the solvent contained in said compound after said treat ment,and means for liquefying said solvent.

' 9. .In a system for reclaiming solvents hermetically sealed, meanstherein for applying a compound to the material, means for controllingthe movement of said material during treatment, means for gasifying thesolvent contained in said compound after treatment of said material,means for exhausting said gasified solvent from said chamber, means forautomatically control- I ling saidexhausting means, and means forcondensing said liquid. r

In. testimony whereof, PAUL GEnLr-and OSCAR A. Ross, have signed theirnames to this specification this 1st day of May, 1918.

V PAULGERLI,

OSCAR A. ROSS.

gasified solvent into a 7

